No Longer
by TheVoidWalker
Summary: Why should anyone bind themselves to beliefs and ideals they themselves do not believe in, simply because society deems that those values are the only acceptable ones? This is the story of one man who decided to no longer be a tool of the world.


Author's Notes:

I really don't know where this story came from except years of literary and musical influence. I hope that some of the scenes inspire you to take a stand against the idiocy in society, and to stand with whoever agrees with you. This story is about doing just that, and the courage it takes to abandon the ideals held by society in favor of your own. To get an idea of the works that inspired this, listen to some of the more upbeat songs of any punk rock band (personally, Makes no Difference and Kick Me When I'm High both by Sum 41 were pretty inspiring), and read _Anthem_ by Ayn Rand, or any of her other works.

I used a lot of symbolism in this story, and I urge all of you to look for it. Anyone who can list all of them (if you interpret something in a different way, I'm fine with that, or if you take an interpretation from something I didn't intend, that's even better), I will be impressed. I just wanted to tell everyone to look for it. Now, please enjoy this story.

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No Longer

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Prologue:

Walking Away

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Uzumaki Naruto, at the age of 16, felt nothing but disillusionment in his life. For all his sacrifices, the village regarded him the same way. Even bringing their precious Uchiha back had done nothing. He remembered bitterly the way Sakura had berated him for the wounds he was forced to inflict on the traitor, overlooking the gashes, bruises, and broken bones on the container of the nine tailed demon fox. 

As he stepped out of his door, he noted only that this day would bring only more of the same. Walking down the streets of Konoha, he was only proven correct by the disapproving and scornful stares of the villagers he had, time and time again, spilt his blood for. Today, however, a new thought entered his head. Three years of being away from that hatred had planted within him the seed of an idea that today had finally begun to grow in the form of a single thought.

'Why do I fight for them?' Naruto thought, not realizing the significance of such a simple, justified questioned. He did not stop to think that others would be appalled that he would think for even a moment of turning his back on the village, his comrades, if one could call them that. Naruto did find the thought unusual. In all his life, he had never once questioned that devotion to Konoha was a necessity. The village was what mattered. This is the idea that had been drilled into his head since he was old enough to understand words. 'But why? Why is the village so important to me?' Naruto thought. He continued his journey to the team meeting that was being held.

As he walked, he passed a small lake on the way to the training field Kakashi had called him too. Across it, over the trees of the forest, he saw the sun beginning to rise. He stopped, and watched the mastery of that divine artwork that is thrust upon the canvas that is this world each morning. The sight filled him with a sense of peace he rarely found in his life. Deciding to savor this valuable moment in time, he sat, and watched. A gentle breeze blew, bringing the scent of the forest to him. For nearly an hour Naruto sat, undisturbed, enjoying what he considered one the most peaceful scenes he had ever been given the pleasure to observe. For once in his life, he felt like the world was at least a semi-decent place.

However, as all such things in the unfortunate shinobi's life, this was not meant to last, and was brought to an end by the arrival of several people he wasn't sure if he should adore or hate with a passion. Earlier in his life, hatred was an emotion he would have never even considered attaching to the three who interrupted his peace, but in his adolescence, he had come to understand when his emotions where misplaced. The trouble for him was he had no idea how to replace the emotions he once incorrectly entrusted to the other shinobi of team 7.

"Naruto! What have you been doing?!" Sakura yelled at him, throwing a punch. Before it hit, Naruto simply turned his head, and put out his arm to block the punch. Any time previous, he would have taken the hit. But after experiencing that one eye opening scene, and seeing the three who had brought its end, he refused to let himself be the tool of anyone, anywhere. It was time for him to make good on the oath he had made to himself after the deaths of Haku and Zabuza.

"You know, I have really gotten sick of that." Naruto said plainly, a reserved smile making its way to his face. Yes, that simple change in his routine had felt good. The look on Sakura's face only made it better.

"Let go of me! Who do you think you are?! You deserved that! Even Kakashi made it before you! Four hours Naruto! That's how long I and Sasuke-kun have been waiting for you both! Kakashi showed up after two. So tell us, what exactly have you been doing?!" Sakura screamed, wrenching her arm away. Naruto pointed at the sun, which was almost fully risen.

"Taking a little time for myself, something I haven't done for a long time." Naruto said.

"Dobe, what are you babbling about. You are wasting our time." Sasuke said bored.

"Nope. It has taken me the better part of sixteen years to figure it out, but you all have been wasting my time. In three years _away_ from this village, I gained more strength then I ever could have here. So pardon me if I decide to shift my priorities." Naruto said, getting up, again pointing at the horizon.

"Naruto what has gotten into you?" Kakashi asked.

"Sense, Kakashi. You'll understand later. C'mon, my guess is you guys are getting a mission assignment." Naruto said. Kakashi nodded, but Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"You mean _we_, Naruto. We are a _team_ after all." Sakura said. Naruto started laughing, but said nothing in response. His team continued to wonder what had shifted Naruto's thoughts to such and odd way of thinking, but they all chalked it off to puberty. They were not, in actuality, far off, but it was not puberty that had shaped Naruto's already made decision to abandon Konoha. It was the rising sun which, by casting its light onto Naruto's dark life showed him that he owed nobody anything. Naruto spent the trip thinking on what he would say, what the response would be, and how to respond back.

He noticed that he was lagging behind his _team_. He saw the Hokage tower up ahead, and began to think that maybe he didn't even owe anyone an explanation, and any he gave would be inadequate if given to one who didn't already understand. He turned around, and, a long way down Konoha's main road, he could see the gates of the village he had grown to wish he wasn't a part of. In the direction he was heading, the Hokage tower loomed. Naruto, in that instant, no longer saw it as a place he could run to for shelter, as he had in his childhood, or a place of leadership, as he had recently. Caught in it's shadow, he saw it as the tower he was chained too, the symbol which represented the prison that was Konoha. His team was too absorbed in their own thoughts to notice he continually lagged further behind. Naruto looked behind him again, seeing the gates that denied him a freedom he suddenly yearned for. Taking off his head band he began to scratch a message into it with a small knife. He had to write small, but this was important.

Naruto finished his message, and dropped the hitai-ate on the dusty ground, and gave it a good kick. He turned around, and ran. He leaped onto buildings, rushing in broad daylight toward the gates on nothing more then a whim. As he ran, he felt the wind blow behind him. Just as he leapt over the gates, he came out of the great shadow of the Hokage tower, and into the sunlight that had opened his eyes earlier that day.

It wasn't until Team 7 arrived in Tsunade's office that his absence was noted. Tsunade's inquiry to Naruto's whereabouts led shortly to their discovery of his headband, left in the dusty road of Konoha with a message carved into the metal.

_"Shinobi resign themselves to being tools, to being the servants of their villages, of their comrades. I once swore to become a great shinobi, but to be a tool, to be a slave, is not an aspiration worth having. Even to be a leader of slaves is nothing more then further binding oneself to the whims of others. So I leave my prison, and my slavery, to find people worth fighting for, those for whom I am not an expendable tool, but a brother, and a friend. To those few who I some form of this bond, I am sorry, but **I am no longer a victim of society or authority any longer**. UZUMAKI NARUTO"_

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Post Notes: 

So, Naruto left. Not for revenge, or out of sorrow, or for power, but for freedom from a life he didn't want. In the next chapter, he will meet someone who embodies the ideal he seeks, and find a new group of people to fight for.

The last sentence of Naruto's farewell letter is bolded because he wrote it with more emphasis. When I handwrite a speech or a story, my handwriting becomes more dramatic and seems, to me at least, to actually become more powerful, if it can be described in that way, as the point is reached. So here, I had Naruto mimic this little trait of mine.


End file.
